Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to providing access to multiple resources in a computer network by using a single login authentication instead of many. More specifically, the present invention relates to a client device gaining access to resources on a computer network that use different internet protocol addresses using only a single set of login information.
Description of the Related Art
Client computers seeking to access digital content through a network such as the internet or an intranet communicate with host computers using one of a plurality of standard internet communication protocols using one or more internet protocol addresses. Furthermore, these client computers may communicate with one resource using one internet protocol version using a first internet protocol address, and communicate with another resource using another internet protocol address. In certain instances, a client computer uses a single internet protocol version to access different resources using a different internet protocol address for each resource. In certain other instances, a client computer uses a first internet protocol address to access a first set of resources, and uses a second internet protocol address to access a second set of resources. The most common versions of internet communication protocols used today are IPv4 (internet protocol version 4) and IPv6 (internet protocol version 6). Most computers today have at least one IPv4 address and multiple IPv6 addresses.
Conventionally, communications from a client computer that is seeking to access a resource from a host computer must communicate with the resource using an internet protocol version and a WEB browser. Frequently, during this process, the client computer communicates with a gateway, and the gateway will redirect the client to an authentication page located in a login server. Once a user of the client computer enters a correct login username and password, the client will be authenticated to access that resource using only the internet protocol (IP) address that was used to communicate with the login server. When a user of the client computer wishes to access another resource using a different internet protocol addresses, the user must perform a second authentication process. This commonly occurs when a client computer accesses a plurality of different resources. In certain instances, the user of the client computer may have to use a separate login authentication process for each and every IP address used to access one or more resources by the client computer.
When a single client device accesses a plurality of different resources, each requiring independent authentication, a user of the client device must stop working and must engage in one or more independent authentications of their identity. Given that a single user of a client device may access many resources during a work session, the productivity of that user can be reduced significantly as the user has to perform many separate authentications during the course of a work session.
In order to increase productivity of a user of a client computer accessing a plurality of resources, a method for authenticating the identity of a client device (or its user) to a plurality of resources virtually simultaneously is needed.